FROM teeny miniskirts and an illicit affair with one of her pupils that saw her banged up in prison, life as a new PC at Sun Hill couldn't be more different for former Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian.

"I'm really looking forward to the new challenge of acting in The Bill," says the 24-year-old who played sexy teacher Becca Dean in Channel 4's cult teen soap until this January.

"My character Sally certainly knows what she wants out of life and she's very confident and keen to prove herself, but she's fun as well and she enjoys a giggle - she's totally different from Becca on so many levels.

"She's keen but I think she manages to balance work and a party lifestyle really well so it's a nice combination, but I'm pretty sure there are going to be a few casualties along the way!"

Indeed, on her first day on the beat PC Sally Armstrong finds herself caught up in a life or death situation when she becomes embroiled in a race against time to find a crazed cop killer before he strikes again.

"Sally and the other new recruit Billy become caught up in a nightmare situation very early on that really pushes them to their limits.

"There's a cop killer on the loose and they end up finding themselves face to face with him, so they're really thrown in at the deep end."

After attending a disturbance at a jewellery shop, Sally gets off to a flying start when she makes her first arrest at Sun Hill, so when the team are called to an abandoned factory to deal with a report of kids throwing stones she is quietly confident.

The team are split up into pairs in an attempt to catch the culprits, but what begins as a seemingly average call-out rapidly turns into a nightmare for the four terrified officers.

"I didn't know a huge amount about police work before I started, so I did a bit of research and even went off to spend the afternoon with officers from the Met," she reveals.

"That really was an eye-opener and I got to listen in to everything they were doing as we drove around, although thankfully nothing too scary happened - it was just a really good experience.

"I've also got a girlfriend who's just trained as a police officer and she's been helping me with this role so much.

"I talk to her whenever I can to get advice and just to find out what her daily working life is like really, and I can tell you now that it's very different from my life as an actress."

Despite her huge respect for the work of the police, Ali admits that she can't really see herself as a cop in real life.

"Hats off to them, they do an amazing job. Now, whenever I find myself anywhere that there's a police presence, I tend to watch and observe what they do. But I don't think it's a job I could do myself, I think I'm probably too much of a wimp actually.

"I kind of run in the opposite direction at the first sign of trouble rather than jumping right in the middle of it to be honest.

"The problem is that Sally is the total opposite to me and she gets involved in all sorts like breaking up fights and stuff, so I'm actually covered in bruises at the minute.

"It's totally different to being in Hollyoaks because there's just so much action in every episode, but that's what's so enjoyable about it and I'm loving every minute of it so far."

Ali says she was lucky enough to start at The Bill on the same day as actor Ben Lee because the two new recruits were always there to support each other during the first few nerve-wracking days on set.

"It's nice to start on the same day as somebody else and we helped each other out a lot.

"Ben is lovely and really good fun to work with, but then everyone is great and they all went out of their way to make us feel right at home.

"For the first few days I was working with Gillian Taylforth and she made me feel really welcome, and I've also been spending lots of time with Louisa Lytton who used to play Ruby in EastEnders. She started about a month before Ben and I so we're all in the same boat, which is good."

Although Ali hasn't had too many late nights filming yet, she admits it's only a matter of time until her work schedule becomes completely manic.

"The producers do like to set a lot of the crime scenes at night as it all looks so moody and atmospheric when it's shot like that.

"I suppose I'll just have to get used to working long hours late into the night but that's fine."

Ali famously dated Hollyoaks co-star and on-screen husband Kevin Sacre, but they broke up early last year and she is now seeing professional rugby player Nick Kennedy, who she's known since she was a teenager.

"We'd been friends for about 12 years and we finally got together about six months ago, and it's all going really well so far.

"He's a lovely bloke, a real breath of fresh air actually, and I'm very happy at the minute so we'll just see how it goes. Watch this space!"

¿ The Bill is on ITV1 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8pm.